Desire
by TheVeryCheesyAuthor
Summary: Sequel to Mind's Betrayal. Third book of the series-The Twins. They KNEW Kagome was not coming back this year. They painfully admitted she was gone. Harry had a lot of presents, but none was from her. Where was she? Even Dumbledore didn't know where she was. This was bad. Kurama was depressed. Sango seems to be breaking down. Hiei, Sesshomaru, and Miroku were silent. On Hold
1. Gone on a Journey

**Kagome POV**

Everyone hates me. Loathes me. Ha. No one will care if I died. Warm fluid flowed down my face. Tears. Pathetic Kagome is silently crying. Boo-Hoo. Everyone loves me when I cry.

"AHHHHH!" I cried.

A blue flash of light surrounded me and I was literally fell into a pit.

C_hirp... Tweet..._

"Woman. What are you doing here." A calm smooth voice commanded me with a knife at my throat.

"Kill me." I answered.

"I asked an question, answer me. LOOOK UP." The voice rose.

I slowly raised my sapphire eye and looked.

It was the most SEXIEST person ever. He had oh so cold eyes like Sesshomaru, and a silver hair like him too. He had cute ears like Inuyasha, and red full lips like Kurama. HE had a matching fighting gi.

**Youko**

I swear. That was the most beautiful demon ever. She had all the muscles and curves most females didn't have.

I could see her ebony ears peeking out. Ebonys were rare. Most demons didn't even know there were Ebonys left in the world. Beautiful tanned face and red button lips. She had beautiful sapphire blue eyes. I didn't want to admit, she had the saddest eyes, they seemed so broken, I wanted to reach out and fix it.

"Answer me." I answered in a nicer tone.

"I-I'm Kagome Potter. Descendant of Midroki and Godric Gryfindor. I travelled here to the past..." 'Kagome' answered letting her melodic voice escape her red delicious lips.

Crap. I owe Mido my life.

"Well then, my beautiful demoness. I am Youko Kurama." I answered.

"Why are you letting me live?" Kagome whispered.

"Because... I owe your anscestor a favor..." I whispered in her ear, nipping it once.

"Why me?" she asked, screaming to heaven above.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

What is that sound? I looked around for the beauty, but she was on the well, jumping.

"Why..." Kagome asked the well. "They don't need me anyways."

Who doesn't need this beauty?

"Who doesn't need you?"

"My 'friends' I tried to save." she said, sighing before telling me her sad story.

**-Two months later-**

"Hey Kaggggiieeee! I wanna let you meet my partner!" Youko sing songed.

They hadn't been dating, but they loved each other. They had been together as best friends for a while, since Kuronue was off to a journey.

"Hey." Kagome said to my partner.

"Hello, Youko's lovely mate." Kuronue teased.

"Oh you-" Youko started.

They looked at each other before blushing uncontrollably.

"See? You guys are perfect."

"I*giggle* stop*giggle* teasing us." Kagome giggled.

Kagome had actually forgot about her friends, she was having so much fun.

**}On the other side of the rainbow{**

"Kagome isn't back for A MONTH!" Kurama said.

The friends had met at Tashio's house (Sesshomaru and Inuyasha), talking about random things, neither wanted to mourn. It hot and sunny out there. The seering sun glared at them for distrusting Kagome.

Silence toke over.

"Guys..." Let's just go fight some demons. School is starting in a month." Sango said, breaking the tension.

"Yeah." Miroku tensely said.

"Alright..." Harry said.

Hermione and Ron couldn't join because this was a talk of demons and everything else. They had recently built a demon navigator, they called it 'Demonic Sensor'.

"It senses a strong energy near the..." Harry was about to say Higuirshi Shrine, but said instead," Neptune."

"Ummm... Ok?" Sango said.

"Give me that." Hiei coldly siad.

"It senses it at," Hiei paused." Hogwarts."

"Nah."

"It senses another one at Big Ben." Inuyasha stated.

"Let's go."

"Wait. Did you guys know that- Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises. " Sango asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Feh." Inuyasha said, claws itching.

**Let's go to Kagome. Two hours has passed for them.**

Kagome had told them what happened.

Kuronue and Youko had listened, like puppies.

"Oh, Kagome, I never thought..." Youko started.

"Oh don't worry! I love you guys more, even I just met you both!" Kagome said, a smile never reaching her left eye.

"Kagome, I will be away for a whole year. Kuronue, please take care of her." Youko said.

"But-"

"Hush." Youko said.

Suddenly, he placed his soft lips against her full ones, and then? He ran to the mountain on the other side..

She knew what this meant.

"Bye...I love you.. Too." he barely heard her say the last four words.

He knew Kuronue would keep her safe. There was a thing he did't want to Believe this:

Youko Kurama, satisfied with one girl. And now? He was risking his life to get her something. But it wasn't just one thing. It was the Shikon No tama. He was risking his life to get her the Shikon No Tama. Who was guarding it? Karasu 2.0.

**Other side of the well where time is slower.**

Apparently, the warning was wrong.

Harry sat down on a couch and grabbed a present, ripped off the brown paper, and discovered a present wrapped in gold and his first ever birthday card. Fingers trembling slightly, he opened the envelope. Two pieces of paper fell out — a letter and a newspaper clipping.

The clipping had clearly come out of the wizarding newspaper, the Daily Prophet, because the

people in the black-and-white picture were moving. Harry picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and read:

MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.

A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."

The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.

Harry scanned the moving photograph, and a grin spread across his face as he saw all nine of the Weasleys waving furiously at him, standing in front of a large pyramid. Plump little Mrs. Weasley; tall, balding Mr. Weasley; six sons; and one daughter, all (though the black-and-white picture didn't show it) with flaming-red hair. Right in the middle of the picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat, Scabbers, on his shoulder and his arm around his little sister, Ginny.

Harry couldn't think of anyone who deserved to win a large pile of gold more than the Weasleys, who were very nice and extremely poor. He picked up Ron's letter and unfolded it.

"Woah, look at this guys!" he said.

_Dear Harry, Happy birthday!_

_Look, I'm really sorry about that telephone call. I hope the Muggles didn't give you a hard time. I asked Dad, and he reckons I shouldn't have shouted._

_It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff._

_I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred galleons! Most of it's gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year._

_Harry remembered only too well the occasion when Ron's old wand had snapped. It had happened when the car the two of them had been flying to Hogwarts had crashed into a tree on the school grounds._

_We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there?_

_Don't let the Muggles get you down!_

_ Try and come to us,_

_ Ron_

_ P.S. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week._

_Harry glanced back at the photograph. Percy, who was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, was looking particularly smug. He had pinned his Head Boy badge to the fez perched jauntily on top of his neat hair, his horn-rimmed glasses flashing in the Egyptian sun._

_Harry now turned to his present and unwrapped it. Inside was what looked like a miniature glass spinning top. There was another note from Ron beneath it._

_Harry — this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's supposed to light up and spin. Bill says it's rubbish sold for wizard tourists and isn't reliable, because it kept lighting up at dinner last night. But he didn't realize Fred and George had put beetles in his soup._

_Bye — Ron_

Harry put the Pocket Sneakoscope on his bedside table, where it stood quite still, balanced on its point, reflecting the luminous hands of his clock. He looked at it happily for a few seconds, then picked up the next present.

"Thank you Ron." Harry said.

Inside this, too, there was a wrapped present, a card, and a letter, this time from Hermione.

_Dear Harry,_

_Ron wrote to me and told me about his phone call to your Uncle Vernon. I do hope you're all right._

_I'm on holiday in France at the moment and I didn't know how I was going to send this to you — what if they'd opened it at customs? — but then Hedwig turned up! I think she wanted to make sure you got something for your birthday for a change. I bought your present by owl-order; there was an advertisement in the Daily Prophet (I've been getting it delivered; it's so good to keep up with what's going on in the wizarding world). Did you see that picture of Ron and his family a week ago? I bet he's learning loads. I'm really jealous — the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating._

_There's some interesting local history of witchcraft here, too. I've rewritten my whole History of Magic essay to include some of the things I've found out, I hope it's not too long — it's two rolls of parchment more than Professor Binns asked for._

_Ron says he's going to be in London in the last week of the holidays. Can you make it? Will your __aunt and uncle let you come? I really hope you can. If not, I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express on September first!_

_Love from Hermione_

P_.S. Ron says Percy's Head Boy. I'll bet Percy's really pleased. Ron doesn't seem too happy about it._

_"_Thanks Hermione."

Harry laughed as he put Hermione's letter aside and picked up her present. It was very heavy. Knowing Hermione, he was sure it would be a large book full of very difficult spells — but it wasn't. His heart gave a huge bound as he ripped back the paper and saw a sleek black leather case, with silver words stamped across it, reading Broomstick Servicing Kit.

"Wow, Hermione!" Harry whispered, unzipping the case to look inside.

There was a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of gleaming silver Tail- Twig Clippers, a tiny brass compass to clip on your broom for long journeys, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare.

The unwrapping took at least a few hours.

He ended having 48 presents.

He was looking for one, and his face fell when he counted them, looking at their names.

It was a lot of presents all right, but it was missing that one, his other half's.

Kagome's present was not present.


	2. Birthday

**ON Kagome's side**

It had been a few days already. Kagome tried to forget about Youko's search, but could not. It was inflicting pain to her heart.

_What if he left me for another girl? Wait.. I'm not his._

_Stop being so insolent Kagome!_ _You know better._

_Bad Kagome! Bad._

"Hey Kag, you okay?" Kuronue worriedly asked.

He had been affected too, he really didn't know where Youko was going.

"Yeah, I think I'm completely fine." Kagome answered.

They secretly was trying to pry open where he was going.

"I sense a demon somewhere nearby, pretty powerful." Kuronue said.

"Yeah..." Kagome said.

They ran down the forest, laughing at how the 'demon' would look like.

"Maybe it has a wart!"

"Maybe it has snot tricking down!"

"Maybe it's a male."

"Maybe it's-"

"The Hunters."

"The what?"

"T-the Spirit World's Elite Soldiers! Back up Kagome!"

"AHHH!"

Kagome's world blanked out. The attack meant for Youko, was blocked by Kagome.

"Kag-"

Kuronue saw a severe hole in her stomach. Apparently, he was protective of Kagome too. He laid her gently down on the ground and licked her wound clean, it had started healing. Kagome whimpered a little. His eyes glowed a bright crimson and his claws grew longer.

"Die"

**THe other side of the rainbow**

"That's all the presents...Except that." Inuyasha said.

Harry put the leather case aside and picked up his last parcel. He recognized the untidy scrawl on the brown paper at once: this was from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. He tore off the top layer of paper and glimpsed something green and leathery, but before he could unwrap it properly, the parcel gave a strange quiver, and whatever was inside it snapped loudly — as though it had jaws.

"Uh... OH" the others took off to the other rooms.

Harry froze. He knew that Hagrid would never send him anything dangerous on purpose, but then, Hagrid didn't have a normal person's view of what was dangerous. Hagrid had been known to befriend giant spiders, buy vicious, three-headed dogs from men in pubs, and sneak illegal dragon eggs into his cabin.

Harry poked the parcel nervously. It snapped loudly again. Harry reached for the lamp on his bedside table, gripped it firmly in one hand, and raised it over his head, ready to strike. Then he seized the rest of the wrapping paper in his other hand and pulled.

And out fell — a book. Harry just had time to register its handsome green cover, emblazoned with the golden title The Monster Book of Monsters, before it flipped onto its edge and scuttled sideways along the bed like some weird crab.

"Uh-oh," Harry muttered.

The book toppled off the bed with a loud clunk and shuffled rapidly across the room. Harry followed it stealthily. The book was hiding in the dark space under his desk. Praying that the Dursleys were still fast asleep, Harry got down on his hands and knees and reached toward it.

"Ouch!"

Everyone in the other rooms could hear him scream.

The book snapped shut on his hand and then flapped past him, still scuttling on its covers. Harry scrambled around, threw himself forward, and managed to flatten it. Uncle Vernon gave a loud, sleepy grunt in the room next door.

Hedwig and Errol watched interestedly as Harry clamped the struggling book tightly in his arms, hurried to his chest of drawers, and pulled out a belt, which he buckled tightly around it. The Monster Book shuddered angrily, but could no longer flap and snap, so Harry threw it down on the bed and reached for Hagrid's card.

_Dear Harry,_

_ Happy Birthday!_

_ Think you might find this useful for next year. Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you. Hope the Muggles are treating you right._

_ All the best,_

_ Hagrid_

It struck Harry as ominous that Hagrid thought a biting book would come in useful, but he put Hagrid's card up next to Ron's and Hermione's, grinning more broadly than ever. Now there was only the letter from Hogwarts left.

Noticing that it was rather thicker than usual, Harry slit open the envelope, pulled out the first page of parchment within, and read:

_Dear Mr. Potter, Mr. Tashio, Mr. Monk, Mr. Taija, Mr. Jaganishi, etc,_

_Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock._

_Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign._

_A list of books for next year is enclosed. Yours sincerely,_

_Professor M. McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Harry pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and looked at it, no longer grinning. It would be wonderful to visit Hogsmeade on weekends; he knew it was an entirely wizarding village, and he had never set foot there. But how on earth was he going to persuade Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to sign the form?

Oh wait. There was ALREADY a signature.

Dumbledore's.

"GUYS! I GOT PERMISSION TO HOGWARTS! DUMBLEDORE SIGNED IT!" Harry yelled.

"WHy DUmbledore?" All of them asked rushing in.

"Uh... He thinks I deserve it?" Harry lied.

"Okay." They chorused not paying any attention.

"Harry, since it's your Birthday, we have tickets for us to go to... THE LONDON DUNGEON!" Hiei reluctantly said, forced to chirp by the rest.

"Yay!" Harry shouted. His favorite place was to go there, since it was all spooky and mysterious.

"... the public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately." the TV was suddenly switched on.

"Oh, Kagome, I hope your okay." you could hear Kurama silently saying.

"Yeah..." The rest murmured.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will announce today —"

"WHAT?" they screamed.

The lights and power turned off.

"Just great. Probably from overheating." Sesshomaru said.

" I guess we can go tomorrow, don't wanna risk being locked in the dungeon." Miroku said.

_A hand..._

_You could see a handd..._

**SLAP!**

"Hentai!" Sango screamed.

"My fair lady-"

**SLAP!**

"Miroku will never change.. Tsk. Tsk." Sesshomaru silently said.

"Owww..."Miroku moaned in pain.

"Serves you right, Hentai." Sango replied to his pain.

"Lady... Sango..." was all Miroku said before fainting.

"Hmpf."

_Hentai means Pervert in Japenese. Rate and Review! If you don't know what POV stands for, it stands for Point of View. Yes, the other side of the well is where time is slower, two times slower. Kagome is back 300 years, not 500 years._


	3. Night Bus

**Harry's World**

They had come back from the Dungeon exhausted and sweaty. It had been fun and exciting, especially during the power-out. Even when Sango and Miroku was lost, they had found clues to where they were, well, the slapping and the word 'Hentai!'

They had even forgotten about Kagome! Well, everyone kinda did. They were ready to go to Hogwarts... Maybe. Only Harry toke the Night Bus, since the Bus had a force field to repel demons. That was really weird for them.

**Harry POV**

There was a deafening BANG, and Harry threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light...

With a yell, he rolled back onto the pavement, just in time. A second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt exactly where Harry had just been lying. They belonged, as Harry saw when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus.

For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve—"

The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught sight of Harry, who was still sitting on the ground. Harry snatched up his wand again and scrambled to his feet. Close up, he saw that Stan Shunpike was only a few years older than he was, eighteen or nineteen at most, with large, protruding ears and quite a few pimples.

"What were you doin' down there?" said Stan, dropping his professional manner. "Fell over," said Harry.  
"'Choo fall over for?" sniggered Stan.

"I didn't do it on purpose," said Harry, annoyed. One of the knees in his jeans was torn, and the hand he had thrown out to break his fall was bleeding. He suddenly remembered why he had fallen over and turned around quickly to stare at the alleyway between the garage and fence. The Knight Bus's headlamps were flooding it with light, and it was empty.

"'Choo lookin' at?" said Stan.

"There was a big black thing," said Harry, pointing uncertainly into the gap. "Like a dog... but massive..."

He looked around at Stan, whose mouth was slightly open. With a feeling of unease, Harry saw Stan's eyes move to the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Woss that on your 'ead?" said Stan abruptly.

"Nothing," said Harry quickly, flattening his hair over his scar. If the Ministry of Magic was looking for him, he didn't want to make it too easy for them.

"Woss your name?" Stan persisted.  
"Neville Longbottom," said Harry, saying the first name that came into his head. "So — so this

bus," he went on quickly, hoping to distract Stan, "did you say it goes anywhere?"  
"Yep," said Stan proudly, "anywhere you like, 'long it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater.

"Ere," he said, looking suspicious again, "you did flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand 'and, dincha?"

"Yes," said Harry quickly. "Listen, how much would it be to get to London?"

"Eleven Sickles," said Stan, "but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot- water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice."

Harry rummaged once more in his trunk, extracted his money bag, and shoved some gold into Stan's hand. He and Stan then lifted his trunk, with Hedwig's cage balanced on top, up the steps of the bus.

There were no seats; instead, half a dozen brass bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows. Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed, illuminating the wood-paneled walls. A tiny wizard in a nightcap at the rear of the bus muttered, "Not now, thanks, I'm pickling some slugs" and rolled over in his sleep.

"You 'ave this one," Stan whispered, shoving Harry's trunk under the bed right behind the driver, who was sitting in an armchair in front of the steering wheel. "This is our driver, Ernie Prang. This is Neville Longbottom, Ern."

Ernie Prang, an elderly wizard wearing very thick glasses, nodded to Harry, who nervously flattened his bangs again and sat down on his bed.

"Take'er away, Ern," said Stan, sitting down in the armchair next to Ernie's.

There was another tremendous BANG, and the next moment Harry found himself flat on his bed, thrown backward by the speed of the Knight Bus. Pulling himself up, Harry stared out of the dark window and saw that they were now bowling along a completely different street. Stan was watching Harry's stunned face with great enjoyment.

"This is where we was before you flagged us down," he said. "Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Wales?"

"Ar," said Ernie.  
"How come the Muggles don't hear the bus?" said Harry.

"Them!" said Stan contemptuously. "Don' listen properly, do they? Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffink, they don'."

"Best go wake up Madam Marsh, Stan," said Ern. "We'll be in Abergavenny in a minute."

Stan passed Harry's bed and disappeared up a narrow wooden staircase. Harry was still looking out of the window, feeling increasingly nervous. Ernie didn't seem to have mastered the use of a steering wheel. The Knight Bus kept mounting the pavement, but it didn't hit anything; lines of lampposts, mailboxes, and trash cans jumped out of its way as it approached and back into position once it had passed.

Stan came back downstairs, followed by a faintly green witch wrapped in a traveling cloak.

"'Ere you go, Madam Marsh," said Stan happily as Ern stamped on the brake and the beds slid a foot or so toward the front of the bus. Madam Marsh clamped a handkerchief to her mouth and tottered down the steps. Stan threw her bag out after her and rammed the doors shut; there was another loud BANG, and they were thundering down a narrow country lane, trees leaping out of the way.

Harry wouldn't have been able to sleep even if he had been traveling on a bus that didn't keep banging loudly and jumping a hundred miles at a time. His stomach churned as he fell back to wondering what was going to happen to him, and whether the Dursleys had managed to get Aunt Marge off the ceiling yet.

Stan had unfurled a copy of the Daily Prophet and was now reading with his tongue between his teeth. A large photograph of a sunken-faced man with long, matted hair blinked slowly at Harry from the front page. He looked strangely familiar.

"That man!" Harry said, forgetting his troubles for a moment. "He was on the Muggle news!" Stanley turned to the front page and chuckled.

"Sirius Black," he said, nodding. "'Course 'e was on the Muggle news, Neville. Where you been?"

He gave a superior sort of chuckle at the blank look on Harry's face, removed the front page, and handed it to Harry.

"You oughta read the papers more, Neville."

Harry held the paper up to the candlelight and read:

_BLACK STILL AT LARGE_

_Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today._

He silently prayed for Kagome to be safe and sound.

"We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."

Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.

"Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it — who'd believe him if he did?"

While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.

Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive. Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one.

"Scary-lookin' fing, inee?" said Stan, who had been watching Harry read.  
"He murdered thirteen people?" said Harry, handing the page back to Stan, "with one curse?"

"Yep," said Stan, "in front of witnesses an' all. Broad daylight. Big trouble it caused, dinnit, Ern?"

"Ar," said Ern darkly.

Stan swiveled in his armchair, his hands on the back, the better to look at Harry.

"Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-'Oo," he said.

"What, Voldemort?" said Harry, without thinking.

Even Stan's pimples went white; Ern jerked the steering wheel so hard that a whole farmhouse had to jump aside to avoid the bus.

"You outta your tree?" yelped Stan. "'Choo say 'is name for?"

"Sorry," said Harry hastily. "Sorry, I — I forgot —"

"Forgot!" said Stan weakly. "Blimey, my 'eart's goin' that fast..."

"So — so Black was a supporter of You-Know-Who?" Harry prompted apologetically.

"Yeah," said Stan, still rubbing his chest. "Yeah, that's right. Very close to You-Know-'Oo, they say... anyway, when little 'Arry Potter got the better of You-Know-'Oo" — Harry nervously flattened his bangs down again — "all You-Know-'Oo's supporters was tracked down, wasn't they, Ern? Most of 'em knew it was all over, wiv You-Know-'Oo gone, and they came quiet. But not Sirius Black. I 'eard he thought 'e'd be second-in-command once You-Know-'Oo 'ad taken over."

"Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street full of Muggles an' Black took out 'is wand and 'e blasted 'alf the street apart, an' a wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way. 'Orrible, eh? An' you know what Black did then?" Stan continued in a dramatic whisper.

"What?" said Harry.

"Laughed," said Stan. "Jus' stood there an' laughed. An' when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, 'e went wiv em quiet as anyfink, still laughing 'is 'ead off. 'Cos 'e's mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?"

"If he weren't when he went to Azkaban, he will be now," said Ern in his slow voice. "I'd blow meself up before I set foot in that place. Serves him right, mind you... after what he did..."

"They 'ad a job coverin' it up, din' they, Ern?" Stan said. "'Ole street blown up an' all them Muggles dead. What was it they said 'ad 'appened, Ern?"

"Gas explosion," grunted Ernie.

"An' now 'e's out," said Stan, examining the newspaper picture of Black's gaunt face again.

"Never been a breakout from Azkaban before, 'as there, Ern? Beats me 'ow 'e did it. Frightenin', eh? Mind, I don't fancy 'is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh, Ern?"

Ernie suddenly shivered. "Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles."

Stan put the paper away reluctantly, and Harry leaned against the window of the Knight Bus, feeling worse than ever. He couldn't help imagining what Stan might be telling his passengers in a few nights' time.

"'Ear about that 'Arry Potter? Blew up 'is aunt! We 'ad 'im 'ere on the Knight Bus, di'n't we, Ern? 'E was tryin' to run for it..."

He, Harry, had broken wizard law just like Sirius Black. Was inflating Aunt Marge bad enough to land him in Azkaban? Harry didn't know anything about the wizard prison, though everyone he'd ever heard speak of it did so in the same fearful tone.

Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had spent two months there only last year. Harry wouldn't soon forget the look of terror on Hagrid's face when he had been told where he was going, and Hagrid was one of the bravest people Harry knew.

The Knight Bus rolled through the darkness, scattering bushes and wastebaskets, telephone booths and trees, and Harry lay, restless and miserable, on his feather bed. After a while, Stan remembered that Harry had paid for hot chocolate, but poured it all over Harry's pillow when the bus moved abruptly from Anglesea to Aberdeen.

One by one, wizards and witches in dressing gowns and slippers descended from the upper floors to leave the bus. They all looked very pleased to go.

Finally, Harry was the only passenger left.

"Right then, Neville," said Stan, clapping his hands, "whereabouts in London?"

"Diagon Alley," said Harry.

"Righto," said Stan. "'Old tight, then."

BANG.

They were thundering along Charing Cross Road. Harry sat up and watched buildings and benches squeezing themselves out of the Knight Bus's way. The sky was getting a little lighter. He would lie low for a couple of hours, go to Gringotts the moment it opened, then set off — where, he didn't know.

Ern slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby- looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron, behind which lay the magical entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Thanks," Harry said to Ern.

He jumped down the steps and helped Stan lower his trunk and Hedwig's cage onto the pavement.

"Well," said Harry. "Bye then!"

But Stan wasn't paying attention. Still standing in the doorway to the bus he was goggling at the shadowy entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.


	4. Wounded

**Kagome POV**

UGHHH! Why isn't he back yet? We've been waiting for three months now...

"Ouch!" I whimpered as Kuronue changed my bandages.

"Shhh... Kagome, Hush, we're in an unknown place." Kuronue said.

Truly, we were in a random cave, behind a waterfall. Kuronue was hit pretty bad, he had a large bandaged cut on his arm and a twisted ankle, not to mention a still bleeding scar on his chest.

I had been hit in the stomach, and had several minor and major cuts running up my left leg. They were healing quite quick, but somehow my stomach wouldn't heal fast enough, it had been three days since the accident.

"Ughhhh..." I quietly groaned.

"Hush..." Kuronue said.

"It'll be all right..." was the last thing again I had heard.

**Three Months Later**

"I'm fine! Kuronue! Seriously! I'm already healed! It's been like two months? Yeah I KNOOOWW!" I said.

Kuronue had been fussing like my mother around me. He always said, 'Kagome, where are you going?" "Kagome, NO!" "Kagome, no going to anywhere dangerous." "Kagome come back before sunset!" Kagome that, Kagome me.

"COME BACK before sunset, okay?" Kuronue looked at me with worry.

It was almost like he was worried. The scar on my stomach was fading, well, there was only a really thin and skinny line, the reason it hadn't closed up fast because of the poison in my system, it took Kuronue five days to get it out. Trust me, it was painful.

I ran down the hill, glad for fresh air!

"WEEEE!"

I laughed and laughed, the air was beautiful, the sky was so clear and crystalline... Oops I got Kuronue's pendant.

"Damn it! Give it back!" Kuronue was flapping toward me.

"NEVAAAA!" I yelled back, enjoying his anger.

"You- I will make you stay in the cave!"

"NUUUU!" I laughed back at his outburst.

Little did I know, time was speeding up three times faster than usual.

**The Other side of the Rainbowwww**

Tom woke Harry the next morning with his usual toothless grin and a cup of tea. Harry got dressed and was just persuading a disgruntled Hedwig to get back into her cage when Ron banged his way into the room, pulling a sweatshirt over his head and looking irritable. Harry was thinking of telling his best friend...

"The sooner we get on the train, the better," he said. "At least I can get away from Percy at Hogwarts. Now he's accusing me of dripping tea on his photo of Penelope Clearwater. You know," Ron grimaced, "his girlfriend. She's hidden her face under the frame because her nose has gone all blotchy..."

"I've got something to tell you," Harry began, but they were interrupted by Fred and George, who had looked in to congratulate Ron on infuriating Percy again.

They headed down to breakfast, where Mr. Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow and Mrs. Weasley was telling Hermione and Ginny about a love potion she'd made as a young girl. All three of them were rather giggly.

"What were you saying?" Ron asked Harry as they sat down.

"Nothing," Harry muttered as Percy stormed in.

"Oh alrighty!" Ron said, digging into the freshly made omelets.

"It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed through the wickerwork. "I'll let you out on the train."

"You won't," snapped Ron. "What about poor Scabbers, eh?"  
He pointed at his chest, where a large lump indicated that Scabbers was curled up in his pocket. Mr. Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the Ministry cars, stuck his head inside. "They're here," he said. "Harry, come on."

Mr. Weasley marched Harry across the short stretch of pavement toward the first of two old- fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet.

"In you get, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, glancing up and down the crowded street.

Harry got into the back of the car and was shortly joined by Hermione, Ron, and, to Ron's disgust, Percy.

The journey to King's Cross was very uneventful compared with Harry's trip on the Knight Bus. The Ministry of Magic cars seemed almost ordinary. though Harry noticed that they could slide through gaps that Uncle Vernon's new company car certainly couldn't have managed. They reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare; the Ministry drivers found them trolleys, unloaded their trunks, touched their hats in salute to Mr. Weasley, and drove away, somehow managing to jump to the head of an unmoving line at the traffic lights.

Mr. Weasley kept close to Harry's elbow all the way into the station.

"Right then," he said, glancing around them. "Let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go through first with Harry."

Mr. Weasley strolled toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, pushing Harry's trolley and apparently very interested in the InterCity 125 that had just arrived at platform nine. With a meaningful look at Harry, he leaned casually against the barrier. Harry imitated him.

In a moment, they had fallen sideways through the solid metal onto platform nine and three- quarters and looked up to see the Hogwarts Express, a scarlet steam engine, puffing smoke over a platform packed with witches and wizards seeing their children onto the train.

Percy and Ginny suddenly appeared behind Harry. They were panting and had apparently taken the barrier at a run.

"Ah, there's Penelope!" said Percy, smoothing his hair and going pink again. Ginny caught Harry's eye, and they both turned away to hide their laughter as Percy strode over to a girl with long, curly hair, walking with his chest thrown out so that she couldn't miss his shiny badge.

Once the remaining Weasleys and Hermione had joined them, Harry and Mr. Weasley led the way to the end of the train, past packed compartments, to a carriage that looked quite empty. They loaded the trunks onto it, stowed Hedwig and Crookshanks in the luggage rack, then went back outside to say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Mrs. Weasley kissed all her children, then Hermione, and finally Harry. He was embarrassed, but really quite pleased, when she gave him an extra hug.

"Do take care, won't you Harry?" she said as she straightened up, her eyes oddly bright. Then she opened her enormous handbag and said, "I've made you all sandwiches. Here you are, Ron... no, they're not corned beef... Fred? Where's Fred? Here you are dear..."

"Harry," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "come over here for a moment."

He jerked his head towards a pillar, and Harry followed him behind it, leaving the others crowded around Mrs. Weasley.

"There's something I've got to tell you before you leave —" said Mr. Weasley in a tense voice.

"It's all right, Mr. Weasley," said Harry, "I already know."

"You know? How could you know?"

"I — er — I heard you and Mrs. Wesley talking last night. I couldn't help hearing," Harry added quickly. "Sorry —"

"That's not the way I'd have chosen for you to find out," said Mr. Weasley looking anxious..

"No — honestly it'sokay. This way, you haven't broken your word to Fudge and I know what's going on."

"Harry, you must be scared — "

"I'm not," said Harry sincerely. "Really," he added, because Mr. Weasley was looking disbelieving. "I'm not trying to be a hero, but seriously, Sirius Black can't be worse than Lord Voldemort, can he?"

Mr. Weasley flinched at the sound of the name, but overlooked it.

"Harry, I knew you were, well, made of stronger stuff than Fudge seems to think, and I'm obviously pleased that you're not scared, but —"

"Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, who was now shepherding the rest onto the train. "Arthur, what are you doing? It's about to go!"

"He's coming Molly!" said Mr. Weasley, but he turned back to Harry and kept talking in a lower and more hurried voice, "Listen, I want you to give me your word —"

" — that I'll be a good boy and stay in the castle?" said Harry gloomily.  
"Not entirely," said Mr. Weasley, who looked more serious than Harry had ever seen him.

"Harry, swear to me you won't go looking for Black."  
Harry stared, "What!"  
There was a loud whistle. Guards were walking along the train, slamming all the doors shut. "Promise me, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, talking more quickly still, "that whatever happens —" "Why would I go looking for someone I know wants to kill me?" said Harry blankly.  
"Swear to me that whatever you might hear —"

"Arthur, quickly!" cried Mrs. Weasley.

Steam was billowing from the train it had started to move. Harry ran to the compartment door and Ron threw it open and stood back to let him on. They leaned out of the window and waved at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley until the train turned a corner and blocked them from view.

"I need to talk to you in private," Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione as the train picked up speed.

"Go away, Ginny," said Ron.

"Oh, that's nice," said Ginny huffily, and she stalked off.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment, but all were full except for the one at the very end of the train.

Then suddenly, Hiei, Sesshomaru, Sango, Miroku, and Kurama came.

"Go-"

"It's fine. They deserve to know." Harry said.

"Know wha?"

"You all know about Kagome... Right? Well... You obviously don't know the connevtion between me and her. It all started with..."


	5. Energy

**Other side of ze rainbow**

It had been a five day chase already. Time was speeding up... Fast.

"You'll never get da pendant!"

"*huff* I*huff* wait..." Kuronue said, out of breath.

"How *Huff* do you get *huff* your energy."

"Hehe! Nevaaaa!"


End file.
